A great service department doesn’t happen by accident. It takes deliberate investment in people, training, and the tools that help teams do their jobs well.
On today’s episode of Service Drive, Xavier Rivera, Service Director at I-95 Nissan and Greenacres Nissan in South Florida, joins us to discuss how he’s keeping service business strong at his stores. Rivera says a mix of technician development, culture, and transparency with customers keeps their service department busy.
Staying steady in the service drive
At the corporate level, Nissan is working through a rough patch. Although the automaker reported seven straight quarterly losses, the company recently projected a return to profitability. According to Rivera, those struggles aren’t having a major impact at the store level.
"I think looking from the outside in, you're thinking, Nissan's in trouble, but they're starting to see the products, they're coming into the stores... It's like they never skip a beat."
He said customers have kept coming through the doors, asking about the Sentra, the Frontier, the Altima and the newly arrived Murano, along with what’s coming next in the lineup.
Investing in training
Rivera believes that developing people is what truly moves a service department forward. That’s why he made technician development a central mission at both stores. To get there, he said he started by listening to his team. He asked what they needed, and rather than asking for more pay or time off, they asked for more training. He said, “They wanted to know more on how to do their jobs properly.”
The results show in his team’s credentials. Rivera has two platinum master technicians at one store and two masters at the other, a level rare among Nissan dealers. Owner Shane Taylor also supports staying on top of training by sending Rivera, his parts manager, and other staff to ongoing Nissan training.
Additionally, Rivera made video transparency a core part of how his service department builds trust with customers, and the numbers back up the approach. He reported that sent rates are at 90% across both stores, with video and photo attachment running around 87%.
At first, he says, technicians were hesitant to be on camera walking customers through their vehicles. With that in mind, Rivera started slow and let the results do the talking.
Once technicians saw video and photo documentation driving more approved work, including brake fluid flushes and transmission service, resistance turned into full participation. The shift changed how customers experience the service visit too. Seeing an inspection instead of just hearing about it builds a different level of trust. Now, it’s something his customers have come to expect.
Staying close to the work
Rivera’s leadership style is built on staying close to the work rather than managing from behind a desk. He spends his time on the service drive with advisors and technicians, handling his own paperwork and reporting alongside them. Rivera credits that work ethic to his own career path. He started as a porter, worked his way up to advisor, then service manager, before being named director over both stores. That climb shapes how he leads now, treating his team’s problems as his own rather than delegating and stepping back.
Looking ahead, Rivera says he’s evaluating mobile service for both locations, while staying involved in the community. He said they’re planning a back-to-school backpack giveaway for both stores this August.
Nevertheless, Rivera advises other service leaders to come back to the same idea that shapes everything else he does. Lead, don’t just manage, and treat your team’s problems as your own. “If they’re failing at something, I’m failing at something,” Rivera said.
That mindset, he says, is what keeps a service department strong regardless of what’s happening at the corporate level.
